When Penn State President Eric Barron was introduced in May, he presented the following analogy.

“When students decided to come to Penn State and pay their tuition, they purchased a sports car, but too many of them will only drive it 20 miles per hour.”

Translation? Take advantage of all the opportunities available to you at college and GET INVOLVED!

New students had an opportunity to see everything Penn State Behrend has to offer Wednesday at the Club Showcase in McGarvey Commons.

We asked students what clubs piqued their interest.

Courtney Bolton, first-year student, Nursing: “The dance team because I have been dancing since I was 3-years-old. I’m not ready to give it up yet.”

Taylor Sterrett, first-year student, Nursing: “I liked the club volleyball team because I played volleyball in high school.”

Shayne Watson, first-year student, Speech Pathology: “I signed up for the Republican club because I don’t like our current president.”

Nick Angelo, senior, Computer Engineering: “Well, I’m the president of Triangle Fraternity, so I’m recruiting. It’s still early, but we’ve got a couple of names, so that’s good.”

Tom Prinzi, senior, Plastics Engineering: “The International Student Organization. It is not only for international students, it’s also for anyone looking to break barriers and make friends. They have really nice dinners, too.”

Justin Leonard, junior, International Business: “Behrend Club Hockey. It gives you the opportunity to play at a competitive level while still having fun and being part of a family.”

Josh Kolarac, first-year student, Communication: “I’m interested in joining BVZ and The Behrend Beacon because it will help out with my major.”

Rayni Modecki, first-year student, IBE: “I signed up for THON because it sounds like a lot of fun and it’s a good cause.”

Andrea Gaez, first-year student, Industrial Engineering: “I came here from Panama, so I joined Theta Phi Alpha and The Multicultural Council to make new friends!”

Behrend Reacts is a regular Thursday feature at the Behrend Blog that tries to get the campus pulse on a current topic, whether it’s serious or trivial. If you have a question to suggest for Behrend Reacts, please email Steve Orbanek at sco10@psu.edu.

As a staff member who works at the college year round, I can tell you that the summer months are peaceful and serene.

At first.

But after a few weeks, the novelty of a great parking space wears off and you realize that no Bruno’s or Elements café (both close in summer) means no morning Starbucks and the empty pathways become a little too peaceful and campus starts to feel kind of lonely.

Summer is a nice reprieve, but it’s truly wonderful and exciting when students and faculty members return. Suffice to say we missed you.

We went out today in search of 10 signs that life has returned to normal on campus:

1. Foot traffic.The pathways around campus are full at class change (and 65% of students are looking at their digital devices while they walk. No judgment here — I’m the one you see walking around with my nose buried in my Kindle, but sometimes it’s nice to look around, too. We have a beautiful campus).

3. A full house outside of Bruno’s and at nearly every student work station around campus.

4. Customers (and three registers open) at the book store.

BTW — that’s me up there in that photo. See that smile? It’s genuine. We’re all quite happy to have you back. See that notebook? I’m almost always carrying one because I never know when I’ll find a story. If you’ve got one to tell, stop me and chat me up.

5. Paws’ STARBUCKS is open again. STARBUCKS is open again. STARBUCKS is open again. STARBUCKS IS OPEN AGAIN. (What? Me? Overcaffeinated? Maybe…because STARBUCKS IS OPEN AGAIN! Cue the angels singing).

6. Paws is scooping Berkey’s again. I scream…you scream…we all scream for ice cream, but you know what? They don’t sell it in the summer. (Doesn’t that just seem cruel?)

7. Student organizations are handing out free food (and other stuff). Fact: If you leave college without 4 Frisbees, 12 reusable shopping bags, 25 free T-shirts and 15 extra pounds, you didn’t do it right.

8. Bruno’s is open again, which means we can get our chicken wrap fix.

9. There are people in the library again….lots of them. (I guess this means I’ll have to start whispering in the library again).